The Modern Lazarus
by Maia2
Summary: DAHL crossover. This is my take on how HL and DA universes would work together. Post FN.
1. Default Chapter

AN: Well, I am not sure how many of you will be interested in this, but I just had to write it, wouldn't leave me alone. Whatever the results .. blame Infie . ;-) hugs Infie cause she rocks

A/N2: I am an Alec fan, but no, this is NOT M/A. hope you will not mind too much.

A/N3: As usual, I have Infie to thank for taking the time to make this better. Thanks sweetie!

**The Modern Lazarus**

"What the hell have you dragged him into now?"

"Hey, Maxie , nice to see you too!" Alec turned to look at the pretty brunette and smiled approvingly at her wavy, shoulder length hair. She was wearing tight black pants and a black, long sleeved t-shirt. Black sneakers completed the outfit, which matched his perfectly. When she only glared at him, his smile turned a little more seductive and he wriggled his eyebrows. "You finally decided to take me on the offer of a little romp in the back room?"

"God, Alec, you are so childish!" She said, shaking her head.

"But cute." He winked.

"Insufferable."

"Well... that too." He checked his backpack one more time before looking up at her again. "So, long time no see... How's the mommy life treating you?"

She smiled "It's great. I mean, they are a handful, but also so very adorable."

He smiled back at her; it was always good to see her smiling. "And how's Logan?"

"He's good." She said warily and didn't expand on it. She knew he would make a wise-ass comment, and did not want to give him any ammunition.

"Just good, huh? Is that why you're here? Got bored of that old husband of yours and finally decided to have an affair with your younger, sexy, irresistible X5 friend, huh?" He bit his lower lip, looking up thoughtfully. "Yes, I understand how that would happen, I mean , I'm sure Logan tries his best, but no one can really compare to me, not really."

She looked at him open-mouthed. "You are so conceited it's not even funny."

"Oh, yeah, then why are you smiling?" he smirked.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am n .. - " She couldn't finish the sentence. She was no longer able to contain the grin. "All right, fine, I am!" She admitted, "But you are still a conceited bastard."

He raised his hands in front of him, "Hey, I never argued that."

"Max!" Joshua's delighted bellow made them both look towards the door. "You came!"

"I sure did, Big Fella ." She grinned and jumped into the dog-man's arms for a hug. "I've missed you so much!"

" Lil ' Fella doesn't come to visit anymore." Joshua sweetly reprimanded her, making her blush. But he didn't let go of her as he put her back on the floor.

"I know, I know, I am sorry. But with the twins and Eyes Only, I've been really busy, you know?"

Joshua nodded.

"Great! Why does he get a hug and I don't?" Alec protested, pouting. "You love him more than me, huh? Fine! It's okay, I don't care..." He said with puppy dog eyes, before looking away from her.

His theatrics made Joshua snicker and Max shake her head and sigh deeply, before she finally caved in and walked to him. "Are you happy now?" She faked an exasperated tone as she put her arms around him.

He shook his head as if thoughtful before saying, "I guess..." and reluctantly hugging her back.

The embrace was not reluctant at all, though. They stayed like that for a few seconds. She was after all, Alec's best friend beside Joshua, even if they didn't see each other that often these days. She had Cindy and other human friends, but Alec was the only one like her, the one who knew everything she'd gone through, the one who'd been there beside her as it all went down. "It's great to see you, Maxie ." He whispered beside her ear, earnestly.

"You too." She whispered back.

They both started laughing as Joshua lifted them both in a huge hug, saying "All together. Family."

"That's right, all together." Alec agreed. "Now, are we going to go steal some jewelry or what?"

---------

Alec glanced up at Max's behind. He knew she'd rip his head off if she realized, but what was he supposed to do? Not notice that perfect little derriere waltzing in front of him? Sure, they were friends and she was married and all that, but he was still male. He stifled a chuckle thinking about Logan's face if he could see him right now. They had gone back to civilized terms in the time that had passed, especially after Max told the human nothing had ever happened between her and Alec. But that didn't mean he was still not a little wary of the X5; after all, he knew there was something between them he could never break. No matter what Alec had done or what he did in the future, he and Max had a bond that transcended anything the human would understand. And the fact that Alec was not bad to look at didn't help matters. Not bad to look at? Who was he kidding ? He was pretty hot, if he did say so himself. He mentally chastised himself. Focus, boy.

Right. Like he was going to be able to with Max sticking her butt in his face and...

"Why did you slow down?" he whispered.

She glared back at him, her index finger before her lips. He rolled his eyes at her, like anyone would have heard that. She made a hand signal for two and down. The guards. Two of them were walking below the vent where Max had stopped. Alec playfully wriggled his eyebrows and watched her shake her head and look at him menacingly. The words 'Don't you dare' formed on those beautiful lips of hers. He grinned. She was so easy to tease.

They waited until the guards moved away before opening the vent shaft and sliding soundlessly to the floor. This was as good a place as any to enter the building. People just never learned. They always tried to save money on security. Well, their loss.

He followed Max smirking. She'd busted into his room in TC like a tornado, demanding explanations as to where Alec was taking Joshua. As if he didn't know the reason she was there had less to do with Joshua than with the fact that she needed some transgenic action. She'd forgotten all about it and now was leading him, who had planned the heist.

"So, things not very active at the Eyes Only front, huh?" He asked in a whisper.

"Oh, well, Logan was meeting one of his old E.O. contacts tonight. Of course, he pretended to be going to visit his cousin, who I can't stand, and suggested I have a night alone with the kids." She rolled her eyes. "He feels guilty because he thinks I resent it somehow." She waved a hand, "True, got me into a lot of unnecessary trouble, but if it weren't for all those silly missions, I wouldn't have known him, I wouldn't have hooked up with some of my siblings, I wouldn't have gone back to Manticore and destroyed it , and yeah, yeah, I wouldn't even have met you…" she added the last bit with a reluctant drawl at his compelling eyes, "and I wouldn't have had such a great excuse to have fun." She finished with a wink.

Alec shook his head. Geez , he loved this Max. He knew he would have fallen hard for her if he'd met this Max way back when. She was a bundle of energy, so full of life, and so happy. Now he could understand what Sketchy and Cindy had been talking about when they first met Alec. And he understood about Logan. Alec remembered thinking it was hopeless for those two. Two such serious people, so intent on their work, on doing what was best for others, on feeling guilty for the sins of the world. But after knowing this Max, he understood it. This woman walking so sexily in front of him complemented the older man's seriousness. She was daring where he was cautious, she was decisive where he was more into weighting the consequences, she was irreverent where he was respectful.

It was only after White had … disappeared… and the transgenics were all settled and she had got the cure for her and Logan's situation that she had become this wonderful person. Alec had cared for her before, even with all of her annoying habits and her gloominess and all; she'd been his friend. But now he actually _liked_ her.

He guessed it was a good thing she hadn't been like that then. He wasn't sure he would have wanted to be in love with a woman that so clearly loved someone else. Plus, she hadn't much liked him then. He snickered. She hadn't liked him at all.

"So you decided to dump the little rascals with aunt Cindy and come hang out with your old pals and get into some trouble yourself, huh?" He asked with a smile in his voice.

"First of all, they are not little rascals, they are just… unusually active." She said, lifting her chin defiantly, daring him to contradict her, "second of all, you love them even more than they adore you," he raised his hands, he wasn't trying to deny that one, "and third of all, I am not planning on getting myself into any kind of trouble tonight, thank you very much."

"Oh, come on. If you weren't looking for trouble, why would you go anywhere with me? I am clumsy, idiot, can't-do-no-good Alec, 'member?" He took the tools from the pouch in his belt and started working on the safe.

She turned from her own safe and looked at him, willing him to look into her eyes. "You are none of that." She said softly, her eyes completely intent on his. He grinned. "Well… except clumsy, of course." She waved her hand, "I swear I don't know what they were thinking when they mixed up your DNA. Can't figure out what kind of animal could be awkward, really."

He looked offended, "I don't know what you're talking about," he said as he dropped the pouch of diamonds in his left hand, then the ruby necklace in his right as he tried to catch it. A series of movements worthy of the best circus juggler followed, as more and more things just 'fell' from the safe and Alec tried to keep them all in the air. Max could not suppress her giggle when all of the elements ended up landing smoothly in the leather bag that mysteriously appeared in his hands. He bowed with a flourish making her giggle some more.

"Show off."

"Envious."

"Shut up." She punched him on the shoulder.

"Why? Truth hurt?" He shoved her away.

She kicked his shin. "As if!"

"Totally true." He avoided her next blow.

"Oh, please!" she feinted a left cross, and swung the bag in her right hand at him instead. He ducked in the last moment, and the sack hit a display case behind him. A glass display case. Hit by a bag full of heavy, hard stones. Alec was sure his own face mirrored the horror in hers as they heard the crystal shattering.

"Oops." She said, as the alarm started its distant wailing. "I guess we are in trouble after all." She grinned innocently.

He burst out laughing and motioned to the stairs to the roof. "Shall we?"

"By all means."

**------------- **

The man standing before him had a distinct, slightly British accent that Logan Cale wasn't sure which part of the Islands to associate with.

He was lean, not too tall but not small either, with a build that could be that of a swimmer or runner. He had short dark hair, dark eyes and a prominent, straight nose. Overall, the man gave little impression at all. He would not have stood out in a crowd. The only unusual thing about him was that clipped way of speaking.

He was wearing a cream-coloured turtleneck sweater, loose at the waist; black trousers and a long, dark overcoat. His hands were inside the pockets of his coat as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. Logan wasn't sure whether the gesture denoted impatience or was just to keep away the cold of the cloudy autumn evening.

Cale eyed him carefully. The man did not look particularly dangerous or threatening in any way. But he could be accompanied. Even if the park he had chosen for the meet provided no decent coverage for someone to hide for at least a mile around, Logan didn't want to take any chances.

He, better than anyone, knew things weren't always as they seemed.

He himself had an alter ego that only a select few knew about; the journalist-crusader 'Eyes-Only'. Eyes Only was the nightmare of Seattle authorities and crooks. He had built a sophisticated net of informants. All his contacts always thought he was just one more link in the chain, never suspecting he was the man himself. And it was through that network he'd found out about Manticore, and had the biggest break of his life stumbled upon him, or broke into his apartment, to be more precise.

Her name was Max. She was one of the Manticore escapees. And she'd chosen his penthouse as her target, one more in the line of the many B&Es in her short life. Chance, coincidence, fate, destiny? Who knew? Things were never easy for them, but many close calls, a trip back to Manticore on her part, the setting of every transgenic into freedom, a genetically retro targeted virus and a cult bent on destroying transgenics in particular and humans in general later, they were together. Again, fate? Logan didn't know. All he did know is that he was married to the most wonderful woman alive and had two beautiful kids with her. And none of it would have been possible if it weren't for the government carrying on secret and implausible operations and his having been curious but careful enough to find out about them, and not get killed in the process.

So here he was again. Taking calculated risks. He could no more give up on his Eyes Only life than he could stop breathing. He hadn't told Max where he'd be. She would have wanted to come along, and he wasn't sure how she'd react to this man.

He was one of Eyes Only's old contacts. Logan had not heard from him in over 5 or 6 years. In fact, he was the one who had first stirred his curiosity about Manticore. He was a scientist who worked at the project. He had never provided details, but had given Logan hints and tidbits of information. Not much, but just what Logan had needed. After all, he wouldn't have been so interested if he'd been given the full 411.

He didn't know what the guy wanted after such a long time, though. As most Manticore scientists, the guy had disappeared when the place went down. Some fled the country, most had suffered mysterious accidents or sudden deaths. Logan remembered trying to contact this guy when he'd been searching for a cure for the virus that had prevented him from even touching Max for over a year. He had been told he'd died. Killed in a drive-by shooting.

"Funny, last thing I knew about you was what I read in the obituaries. You don't look that dead to me right now, you know?" He said by way of greeting. "Someone perform a séance and bring you back from the dead or something?"

A lopsided smile touched the man's lips. Aloud he just said: "Well, one does what one must to survive. Manticore wanted to see me dead; I gave them what they wanted." He shrugged.

Logan conceded the point with a nod. It was what he would have done if he had been in the guy's place. "So…"

"So?" the man returned, a raised eyebrow.

Logan shook his head. The man had always been annoyingly reluctant to say anything unless it was dragged out of him. "You called me, man. What do you want that involves Eyes Only ?" Two could play the game.

"Not easily distracted, are you?" The scientist asked dryly. "Very well." He pursed his lips. "What I wanted was actually to know what _he_ knows about something."

"What makes you think I would ask him anything for you?" Logan replied. "And what makes you think he would answer even if I did?"

The man's smirk became more pronounced. "Well, I don't think you'll need to actually _ask_ him. Not unless you have a really serious personality disorder, in which case, I am not sure I really want an answer." He reflected, furrowing his brow in mock concern.

Logan's face remained blank. "What is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"Oh, come on, my friend. You didn't really expect me not to know who you really were, did you? Do you think I would have risked my own safety with an underling when I first contacted you? If there is one thing I value, it's my own head."

"But…how?" Logan asked. It was clear there was no point trying to pretend anymore.

"The eyes. I was a scientist in a top-secret project that involves genetics and the study of detailed traits… and I wasn't exactly born yesterday. You don't survive to be my age by not knowing how to get the information you need."

Logan frowned at the choice of words. The guy didn't look that much older than Logan himself. He looked closely. In fact, the guy's non-descript look extended to his age… Logan couldn't peg that either. Then again, working where he had, it was natural the guy felt old. "Alright, so what did you want to know?" He asked. If the man had not turned him in so far, he seriously doubted he would now.

The man's lips quirked sardonically. "Care to go somewhere we can sit down?"

--------------

"Lo- gan ! I'm home!" Max voiced ever so delicately as she entered the house. What used to be a shabby old house inhabited by Joshua, their dog-faced friend, was now a cozy home, large enough to comfortably host the family of four and all of Logan's computer equipment, but without the sophistication of Logan's previous penthouse which had not really been Max's style.

"In here." He answered far more softly. He knew she'd hear anyway. He heard her move into the kids' bedroom, probably carrying the already asleep boys to bed.

"Now how did I just _know_ you'd be sitting in front of a screen?" Another voice said with a trace of mockery.

"Alec?"

"The one and only!" Alec bowed with a flourish, managing to balance little sleeping Sean in his arms so that he didn't even stir. Of course, if he hadn't woken up after Max's shout, Logan doubted he would until the next morning.

"Hey, man." Logan shook Alec's hand, taking off his glasses at the same time and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, taking good care of the little lady, of course." Alec smiled brightly, knowing it would remind Logan of the time Max made him believe there was something going on between her and the other transgenic. "You know? You shouldn't leave her alone. Especially with a fine specimen such as myself around…"

Logan glared at him, but only momentarily. He and Alec weren't the best of friends, but Logan understood how important he was for Max, and he also was confident enough Max wouldn't be fooling around with anyone else. No matter how handsome or strong or smart or just irritatingly perfect that someone else was. Plus, the kids just adored their uncle Alec. And, yeah, Logan could admit that essentially, deep down, Alec was a good guy.

"Are you finished basking in your own ego or do you need a bit more time?" he just asked.

"Ouch, see? That hurt. Is it any wonder I have to resort to self praise, when you hurt my delicate self-esteem so often?" Alec said as he moved into Sean's room to put him in bed.

"Coffee, anyone?" Max cut in before it could go on any longer. Who knew how long these two could keep that up?

"I'll have tea, thank you, babe."

"Do you have any beer? Or have you finally gone all posh on me and have only _wine _now?" Alec raised an eyebrow at her, coming back into the room.

She just rolled her eyes at him, walking towards the kitchen. As she passed by her husband, she bent down to kiss him, mumbling sweet things that made Alec raise his hands and say: "Alright, alright, don't worry, _I'll_ get it. You go on just as if I wasn't here..." He walked out of the room muttering something that sounded like " Geez , as if you hadn't been married for _years_, now!"

"He gone?" Max whispered by Logan's ear.

Logan peeked over her shoulder and nodded, grinning. "Works every time." He winked. "Hi, baby." She said softly.

"Hey yourself." And then he kissed his wife properly.

-------------

"So what were you guys up to tonight?" Logan asked, moving his empty plate to the side to lean on his elbows. His eyes went from one transgenic to the other, watching them devour the third serving of spaghetti. "I kind of had the impression you were going to stay home…?" He raised an eyebrow at Max.

She smiled and muttered through a mouthful of pasta: "hmm, righft , ' causemm you went to fisit youmr coushimmm ."

Alec laughed. "Really, Logan, I thought you could have taught her some manners by now!"

Logan just looked at him blandly and focused back on Max, "Fine, so I didn't go visit my cousin, but you already knew that. So why don't you tell me where you two were?"

"Actually, I went to check on this one here, 'cause I called Joshua and he told me they were going on some job tonight. Can you believe he was taking Josh on a heist?" She said, opening big eyes at him. "Naturally, I had to go in and stop that."

Alec snorted, not even bothering to comment.

Logan gave her one of his looks. "Sure, cause Joshua hasn't been going on 'heists' all the time since we've been married." Alec smirked, nodding once at Logan, to show his agreement. "You were dying to go test your skills a bit, were you not?" Logan smiled.

"Well, if you knew what I'd be doing, then why did you ask?" Max retorted defiantly.

"Because I wasn't sure which one of your friends the felons-to-be you were going to go see." At Max's questioning look he clarified, "Well, I am pretty sure Cindy is going to get herself arrested for either indecent behavior or verbal aggression one of these days."

Alec chuckled. Max didn't. "Hey! That is my friend you are talking about!"

Alec put on a hurt expression, "Oh, right, you take offense at her being called a felon to be, but me? Nooooo , of course not." He pouted, "Nice to know you care."

"Oh, for the love of .."

"No, no, it's okay. I can nurse my own wounds, thank you very much." He waved his hand dismissively at her.

"Well, I am sorry, but who almost got arrested tonight?"

"Excuse me? Who knocked over the display?"

"Well, only because you wouldn't stop wi .. -"

"Kids!" Logan interrupted them. They both turned to look at him, blinking. Logan sighed. Some things never changed. "Why don't you tell me where this display that got knocked over was?" When they both started talking simultaneously, he raised one hand. "You go first." He signaled Max. "Ever heard of chivalry?" He raised an eyebrow when Alec started to protest. He decided to ignore the mumble that came out of the male transgenic's mouth. He really didn't want to know.

Max started telling him about the jewels they'd stolen and how they had accidentally tripped an alarm, but that they'd got away just fine and that they'd been able to sell the goods before any cops had been notified of what had been stolen.

"Which brings us to the reason I am here, besides giving you the pleasure of my company: I wanted to give you this." Alec handed Logan a wad of cash he took out of the pocket of his jacket, which was hanging off the back of his chair.

"What is this for?"

"Well, a contribution for the great cause." He shrugged. "It's not just from me. You've done a great deal for us. We like to repay our debts."

"It's not a debt. I do it because I believe it's a good cause." Logan looked him intently in the eyes. "And even if it _were_ you've more than repaid it by now."

"I know. But still." Alec shrugged again. "You can consider it Max's cut on the heist. After all, she was there, whatever good _that_ did…"

Max's mouth fell open, she stood up, placed a hand on her hips and glared at him. "How dare you? If it wasn't for me, you'd still be tangled up in that wire fence."

"Oh, yeah? If you hadn't chosen the most unlikely of places to get through the fence my coat would not have been tangled in it." Alec said , leaning back in his chair, savouring the exchange he could feel coming.

"Well, if you had not been wearing a stupid _coat_ while going stealing, it wouldn't have been a problem."

"Well, I wasn't _planning _on getting out through that place. And why was I trying to jump the fence instead of going back the way I had gone in, huh? Because _someone_ tripped the alarm."

"Well, if you hadn't been a sissy and tried to dodge the sack, the case wouldn't have been hit." There was a lot of hand waving involved by now.

"Excuse me, but I didn't _try_ to duck it, I _did _duck it!" Alec's eyebrows rose cockily, "And if you hadn't lost your temper, I wouldn't have needed to duck in the first place."

"Well, if you hadn't been so annoying, I wouldn't have had to control my temper."

"Oh, yeah? So now it is my fault that you decided to come along? If you hadn't, none of it would have happened."

Logan looked from one to the other and sighed. This could go on forever. Logan decided to cut it short before they went through all the 'if you hadn't' of all the years they had known each other. Or even the years before that.

"So I met this Manticore doctor today." He said casually.

A bucket of freezing water would not have been more effective. Words just suddenly stopped flowing out of their mouths. They froze in their places, turned to look at him, back at each other, and then leaned closer to him.

"Come again?" Max said, her expression almost completely blank, except for a slight trace of disbelief.

Alec's face was a perfect mask of nonchalance, of carefully studied carelessness. "Yeah, buddy, I think we wanna hear where _you_ were tonight."

----

I am always interested in what people think hint, hint


	2. Part 2

A/N: hugs Infie for the extremely quick beta job. You are the very best!

A/N2: Thank you for reading and especially for your reviews. Yes, it was Highlander what I meant :).

The Modern Lazarus 

"So let me see if I got it all," Alec was resting his chin in his hand, elbows propped on the table. "His name is Adam, he was one of the doctors at Manticore, and he suddenly showed up out of the blue to see what you knew about the breeding cult and to know if you were keeping tabs on them, oh and also, by the way, were you still in contact with the transgenics?" His eyes were pretty intent behind his carefree expression. "How very nice of him."

"Well, I don't like this one damn bit." Max said in her less than ceremonious way. "The dude is up to something. I say Alec and I go pay him a little visit, find out exactly what that is."

"Smooth, Max, real smooth." Logan said.

"Well, the guy knows about us, he knows about the cult and he knows you are Eyes Only. I don't think we'd exactly be giving anything away." She deadpanned.

"True." Logan conceded, "but we still don't know which side he's on."

"Hence the whole point of going there to get the info out of him."

"I think I'm with Logan on this one…" Alec said pensively. Then he smirked at Max's stare. "Yeah, yeah, I know how odd that sounds. But think about it, the guy comes out of the blue stirring up old stories about transgenics. He _knows_ Logan is in contact with at least one transgenic." He looked at her pointedly. "Maybe he's _expecting_ us to show up at his door, you know?"

Max huffed but gave in. One of the reasons she and Alec worked so well together was that they always, always saw things from different perspectives. "Okay, fine. But what do we do, then? Just sit around here waiting for him to make the next move?" Alec gave her his best 'get real!' face and then looked at Logan. "So, old buddy, you into some hacking tonight?"

----------- 

Alec looked at the beautiful woman crouching beside him. This was _fun_. Sure there was some guy that was probably a threat to them and blah, blah, blah. So what else was new? But he had gotten to act like his former burglary/covert-ops self four times so far this week… and with Max's company. It had really been a long while since they'd last done something like this.

He smiled, remembering the days at Terminal City. Man, those were some tense times. He and Max had had to do a lot of these types of operations, though usually for less glamorous ends, like putting food on the table. Those had been some rough months for them. But eventually, they'd found a way out. They'd lost some friends, but after a while the US government realized that unless they nuked the place, there was no way they were ever going to be able to get the transgenics.

And actually, White had gone a long way in helping them if not win the people's trust, at least diminish their hate a little bit. The man had been so obsessed about them and his son that he'd gone after them relentlessly, ruthlessly… and carelessly. In his mania he'd slowly but surely slipped, giving up more and more about _his_ true nature. The transgenics had capitalized on this, helping him along the way. They'd made sure his craziness and obsession were seen by more and more people, they'd gotten him to blurt some of the cult's plan out, and they'd exploited the public's new panic, fuelling it, and later, capturing a large part of the cult in-flagrante. It had been all carefully staged, and the transgenics had not walked out unscathed, but the general public had mellowed some watching these freaks no one cared for giving their lives to save them.

Of course, it hadn't been an easy decision to make. Going to a war where they knew they were going to lose soldiers. But in the end, that was their purpose in life. At least it was for most of them. Max had felt squeamish about using their comrades' deaths but it was what they would have wanted. For their deaths to have a meaning. Not that Alec didn't feel a pang whenever he thought of some of the fallen, when he remembered Luke's innocent smile, or Lane's beautiful blue eyes, always full of life until that fateful night. But he pushed it aside, remembering that because of them, he and the rest of them were able to have a semblance of a life now. And he would never, ever forget the look in White's cold eyes as he watched the rest of his cult buddies die one by one and then his own life seeping away, the blood pouring out of the gunshot wounds in his chest. But most of all, he remembered his face when he realized not only that their master plans for controlling the world were history, but also that his death would serve to aid the transgenics in winning the public's good graces.

After that night, the transhumans had slowly begun leaving TC, going to different places around the world; places where there was still some isolation to be found. Mountains, deserts, forests… People left them alone for the most part. As long as they didn't see the freaks, they could go back to their little lives and pretend they didn't exist. The Xs had slowly integrated themselves into human life, mostly abroad, where not as many people had heard of them or cared. Of course, every now and then, there was an attack on transgenics, some vigilante group or other. But they knew how to take care of themselves. What had happened to Biggs was not going to happen to any more of them. And if they somehow managed to get a hold of or even kill a transgenic, these bastards were sure to disappear or die in really horrible, painful ways. Ways that always managed to look like unfortunate accidents.

Attacks on transgenics were very rare these days.

It was after White died that he and Max had gotten really close. They had worked together a lot during the whole TC situation, but after things settled, what with him staying around Seattle, they'd become friends.

The first months after Manticore had been burnt down, Alec had fantasized about finding a cure to Max's virus, and that then she'd be forever grateful to him. But nothing like that had happened. They'd found the cure for the virus, but it had not been Alec; it had been some of the more 'scientific' transgenics. So it was not gratitude that made them friends. It wasn't anything that happened suddenly, or that they'd analyzed, it just happened. It was as if they'd always been friends.

So right now, he was just happy to be spending time with his pal Max. It was true she was busier with the kids lately, so it was a rare time when they got to hang out so much. He laughed at himself and his definition of 'hanging out'.

"So what do you think this guy's up to?" Max asked suddenly, her brow furrowed, a pout on her lips.

"Beats me." He answered honestly. "But we're gonna find out."

"Damn right, we are." She said seriously, "I've worked my butt off and we've all sacrificed a lot to have the lives we do now. I ain't gonna have some Manticore punk destroying it all just for kicks."

He smiled at her expression but shook his head. "Okay, I think we pretty much established he's not home, right?" She nodded. They'd been staking out the house ever since Logan managed to hack the address out of some database or another a couple of days ago. "Then I think it's time for a little B&E, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You wanna do the honors?" She asked rhetorically, he was already wearing his black gloves and the ski mask was on the top of his head, ready to be pulled down.

He grinned. "Ladies first. I'm told there's this thing called chivalry." He winked.

--------------- 

"So?" Logan asked them as they entered the house. He looked up from the floor where he was sitting, helping Zack and Sean work on a puzzle.

"Mom!"

"Uncle Alec!"

Both transgenics scooped up the little bundles running towards them, kissed them and then swapped them to do the same with the other.

"You staying for dinner, Alec?" Sean asked eagerly.

Alec looked at Logan and said: "Only if I'm invited."

Logan glared at him. They both knew he would stay even without the invitation. "Care to join us, Alec?" He said it anyway, for the children's benefit.

"It would be my pleasure."

"Yay!!!" The kids shouted simultaneously.

Max laughed and put Zack back down, telling him to go play a little more while Alec, daddy and she talked. The little rascal pouted but when he saw her resolution, shrugged and took Sean's hand to lead him back to the puzzle, shaking his head disapprovingly at the grown ups.

Logan smiled at the kid's antics but then turned to the transgenics again, "Anyway, you guys never answered my question… so?"

"So, I think the UCLA will win this year's championship. I think that guy Stevens is gonna take them to the playoffs and…" He smirked at Logan's glare. "Oh, you meant tonight! Forgive me, I should have deciphered your very specific question."

"We went in tonight." Max decided to ignore Alec. "There was nothing there." 

"Nothing?" Logan frowned.

"Nothing." Alec sobered up. "Literally. The guy has absolutely no personal objects. The only things there are some books. Classics, mostly. So we know the guy likes classic lit. There was a nice stereo system, but nothing out of the ordinary. Regular clothes. The place is impeccably clean, but has a sort of… austere feel to it. No personality." He tossed a sideway glance at Max, who was staring at him. "What?"

"I thought you were too busy checking the stereo's value to get much of a look around." She jested, but added, "I've never heard you talk about getting a 'feel' of any of the places we've scouted before." She said honestly, a little surprised.

"Well, we were scouting for things before, not for people." He smiled sheepishly at her. "Training. They trained us for that sort of thing."

She nodded. She made no mention of assassinations, as she would have before, when they'd first met. She had come to accept him for who he was. Sure, he was a trained killer, but so was she. And he could be ruthless and calculating if he wanted to be. But he was Alec. And she loved him just the way he was.

And she understood completely what he meant, she might not have had as much training to pick these things up as he did, but she understood what he was talking about.

"So nothing, huh?"

He nodded. "The guy did not leave a trace of who he is in that house. Now, that does tell me something. It tells me he knows how to play the game. He knows how to not give anything away, yet make it a livable place. What I still don't know is whether he is always like that, or if it was just for our benefit because he knew we'd be coming for him."

Logan just shook his head. He had reached the same conclusion. But it was always unnerving to hear things like that from Alec. Even with a few more years, he still looked like the same carefree, selfish young man he'd met long ago. Logan knew intellectually that he was a soldier but he was usually so easygoing, so … Alec, he sometimes forgot.

The same thing happened to him with Max. He loved every bit of her. But watching her be a loving wife, a wonderful mother, a playful friend on a daily basis, it was always startling to watch her draw that Manticore blanket around herself and become that distant, cold soldier.

"So I guess we are back to square one. We need to know what he wants with us." He said out loud.

Max nodded. "Only difference is, we now know he's a player. Which we suspected from the beginning anyway."

Alec smiled. "So you're thinking it's time for the confrontation you wanted in the first place?"

"Well, why not?"

------------ 

Of course, there were a number of reasons why not. Then again, there was no convincing Max once she set her mind on something. So they'd reached a compromise. Alec watched Max and Logan walk towards the man sitting on the bench, overlooking the waterfront. They had agreed that since Max was pretty much a 'public' figure, and since anyone with a good memory or a desire to look up old newspapers would know Logan had married 'one of them', there was really no harm in the guy seeing her.

Alec, on the other hand, had always stayed in the shadows. Max had always teased him about it, wondering how it was possible for someone of his good looks to go unnoticed. Yet it was true. It was also part of his training. He winced just remembering the times when he had been stupid enough to go cage fighting. He guessed it had been his way of rebelling, of embracing the fact that he was free from Manticore. Stupid. But he'd learnt his lesson. He always kept himself away from the spotlight now. And even though he had been at the same places Max had, people would only vaguely recall that yeah… there had been a young man, good looking, but.. I can't quite remember him… If they remembered him at all. Which was just fine with him.

The place chosen for the meet was good from a security point of view. It was far away from any buildings. Which was why he was crouching on this terrace, using a pair of binoculars, and even with his enhanced sight and the mechanical help he could only see them as far away.

He could hear them, though.

"Dr. Oldman." Logan said, no inflection in his tone as he approached the sitting figure.

"Cale." The man said, turning around. And then, with a certain degree of amusement in his tone. "I see you brought the cavalry."

"Why don't we cut the crap and you tell us what the hell you want." Alec chuckled, listening to Max. Always so diplomatic.

"Care to take a seat?" The man asked politely, completely unruffled by Max's outburst. He watched her shake her head, stubbornly refusing. _Atta girl_, Alec thought. Make him turn around to look at you. He'd only been able to catch a glimpse of the man's features, just a part of his profile. The man, however, only shrugged and turned back to face the water. Alec sighed.

Logan had no choice but to move around the bench to face Adam. Max stayed stubbornly at the side of the seat.

--------- 

The man's eyes sparkled with amusement at the woman's pouty face. She was really not happy to be here. He could completely understand. There was nothing like the bliss of anonymity and it was really uncomfortable to let go of it. Unless one wanted to, of course, or it was necessary… or one was terribly bored. She still looked gorgeous, pout and all. The sight of her made the whole Manticore project worthwhile. How could something be bad if it created such beauty?

"Okay, we are here. What do you want?" She said testily.

He put his hands on the pockets of his coat, squinted his eyes, looked out at the ocean and sighed. "I want to tell you a little story."

------ 

Columbia – 2000 AD

__

It was a rainy night at the Campus of the University of Columbia. The big fat drops were splashing loudly on the skull of the dark haired man squinting his eyes below a streetlamp. He turned the lapels of his raincoat up and run his hands up his arms, as if to keep the cold at bay.

A dark blue car pulled over in front of him and the back door opened.

"It's about bloody time." He mumbled as he got in and closed the door behind him.

"Patience, my friend, patience. It is a great virtue."

"It is indeed. Just better exercised when one is not freezing to death in the rain."

The white haired man in the army gear grinned. "Come on, my boy, let's get the show on the road."

Twelve hours later – Gilette, Wyoming

__

It was a well-lit chamber. Two rows of computers covered the walls on the sides, their monitors showing diverse images, from uncommon DNA sequences to 3D blueprints. The far wall had a big diagram hanging from it. People were bustling in and out of the room, charts in their hands, looking busy.

They all stopped and shook Adam's hand at a single gesture from Sandeman, to greet the new arrival.

"And this is Donald Lydecker. He'll be in charge of the X5s' military training." Dr Sandeman finished the introductions. "The project has already started, as you know, but now we are getting to the interesting part."

Adam looked duly impressed. The authorities of Columbia University had described him as 'a very gifted young man', but to these people he was a newbie, so he played the part. He'd written a number of papers on recombined genetics, ones that had impressed some of the faculty although most didn't understand. But here, everyone did.

Of course, being here had been his objective all along, so maybe he had written them so they would. He mentally rolled his eyes at himself, who cared?

He looked at the military uniforms and shook his head internally. Them _he could have done without. He'd never cared much for the 'boys in green'. But this was where things were happening, so this was where he had to be._

"So it is real, after all." Adam mused.

"Oh, yes, my boy, it is." Sandeman replied with a smile.

"Well, I can't say that it isn't a bit scary, but darn, it's exciting!" He looked at the genetic map of the X5s displayed on a big screen before him and continued as if to himself, "Perfect. The living proof of what man and science can accomplish." He shook his head in awe.

Dr. Sandeman smiled and extended his hand, signaling to a door on his right. "Care to join me? I'll show you to your quarters, and then you can get to work."

-------- 

Adam blinked and focused on the water before him, shaking the images of the past from his eyes.

"But the reason I was so interested in him in the first place, the reason I finally gave up and joined this military venture was not a fascination for the project itself, although that might have been enough. No, it was the fact that I needed to know why _he_ was in it. You see? I knew what he was. A Familiar. They were all about the breeding. And yet he was dabbling into genetics? Something was up. And I needed to know what." He stopped to smile at them, they were so .. young, so eager. "Why, you are asking yourselves? Well, I don't know. Maybe I was young and idealistic? Perhaps I just wanted to save my own neck. Does it really matter?" He sighed when they failed to follow his reasoning.

"I spent years in the research department. I had figured out what it was he wanted to achieve with the transgenics. But it wasn't until years later that I was able to see _how_ he'd done it. And I must say it was bloody brilliant. When I saw what he'd done, it was just so simple, so obvious. What I still could not see was the why. How did it fit into their plans? Then I realized… it didn't. This was _his_ plan. Not the Familiars'; his. He disappeared around that time. And I stayed there. I was just fascinated by you kids. I had kind of... taken a liking to you all."

"Nice to know we were able to entertain you." The girl said bitterly. "Just not enough to help us, huh?"

He scrunched his nose. "I know, I know, you weren't having a great time. But what was I to do? You were just kids. I couldn't very well send you all out there on the world, could I? I knew how people would react. And you had no way of fending for yourselves." He raised a hand at her blazing look. "Fine, fine, you and the rest of your unit did, but I had no way of knowing that at the time, had I? For all I knew, you were all dead." He made a dismissive gesture with his hands. "Anyway, I would have been in a lot of trouble had I tried to sneak any of you off the base. Things got pretty rough after you kids escaped. The rest of the X5s… they didn't have such a good time." He watched her eyes turn darker, shadows coming into them. He was sorry for having to use guilt against her, but it had served the purpose of deflecting her accusations from him, had it not? "I tried to ease things as much as I could from the inside. And I took the opportunity when I knew about Eyes Only. There was nothing I could do overtly, but I knew he'd be able to take more direct actions."

Cale looked at him hard. "How did you know that?"

"Well, you are the kind of guy who would have to do something about it. No matter how stupid it was. You would just try to help." He smiled vaguely. "I've known some people like that. No matter the odds, no matter if there's nothing at stake for them, they just have to go and do the right thing."

"Well, what's wrong with that?" The other man said defensively.

"Nothing," he smirked and held his hands up. "I love good guys."

"Anyway, that's all ancient history, we are out, the Familiars are toast. So why are you telling us all this?"

"Well, that's just it. They aren't. Toast was it you said? I am afraid they are very much not."

------ 

A/N3: oh! I had forgotten to thank Dani for the M/A relationship here. It was a long time ago, on a chat conversation, that we expressed our desire to have a nice M/A banter but without the romantic complications. Of course, I wasn't planning a crossover, or even a story, but this stuck with me, so.. Thanks, Dani!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I am SO sorry, I realize most of you probably do not even recall what this is about.. er.. just remember it's a Highlander crossover.. just pretend it.. came back from among the dead... ;)

A/N2: hugs Infie for checking this out for me and always helping me improve

A/N3: Thank you for reading and especially for your reviews.

**The Modern Lazarus**

"Did you buy any of that?" Max asked as soon as they were back together.

"Some of it." Alec shrugged. "He still left a lot out."

"Did you get a good look at him?" Logan asked, going for more practical matters.

Alec shook his head in the negative. "He only turned briefly, and when he left the lapel of his coat was turned up and he was looking down. There is something familiar about the way he moves, though. I've definitely seen him before. I just can't quite place where. But I guess Manticore, huh?"

Max sighed. "All right, so he says he got into the Manticore project because he hoped to fix things in this world, that he knew it was a military joint, which he didn't much care for, but that it was the place to be." She frowned and looked at the men, "You buy that 'didn't care much for it' shit?"

"I don't know. I think he probably just said that because he knows how you guys must feel about military environments." Logan pointed out.

"That's probably the reason he said it, I agree, but I think it's true. He's not a soldier." He raised his hand looking at them, "I just don't feel he'd like the restrictions."

"Well… most scientists don't." Logan nodded.

"And I do believe he went into the project for reasons that had nothing to do with building weapons, but everything to do with science, and making us." Alec continued. "I just don't know why."

"Well, I am still a bit foggy about what exactly he was trying to tell us. Why come forward now? If he knew about the Familiars, if he knew Sandeman was one of them, why tell us now?" Max was frowning again.

"And how did he know, for that matter?" Alec continued for her. "Not like Familiars were known for their love of the spotlight. How could he have found out?" He asked pointedly, raising his eyebrow at her. They were both thinking the same thing…. Which was echoed aloud by a little voice on the corner.

"He was one of them, duh!" Sean said, not lifting his head from the miniature electric tower he was building.

"I'm sorry, Sean, what did you just say?" Logan asked, missing the glance exchanged by the two transgenics.

"Well, if it's a secret society no one knows about, he musta been one of 'em to know, right?" Sean raised his big eyes to his dad.

"I think the kid's got a point." Logan muttered.

"Well, that gives us one more headache." Alec muttered.

"Huh?"

Max nodded at Alec, "If a five year old could figure it out, that means he wanted us to know."

"Or he was misleading us." Alec finished the thought.

"Whichever one, we're still were we started: in fucking trouble."

--------------

"Where have you been, gorgeous?" The purr came from the couch in his living room.

He smirked and shook his head, tossing the keys on a table across the room. "Missed me?"

A head of gloriously thick, wavy light brown hair rose from behind the green sofa and smiled sexily at him. "Terribly."

"I don't recall giving you the keys to my apartment." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Probably because you didn't." She tossed back, no trace of regret in her voice.

He laughed, "I would try changing the locks, but that wouldn't do any good, would it?" Her grin widened as she shook her head. "Yeah, I thought so..." he concluded, losing the jacket on the way to the bar.

His apartment was a blend of tastes and times, pretty much like his personality. It was austere, with a few touches of luxury, like the 52 inch plasma screen TV, or the state of the art stereo system. The couch his visitor was occupying, on the other hand, was old. Really old. As in worn out, with some stains that just wouldn't come off; some artistically ripped seams, and he liked it that way. It gave his apartment a kind of homey feel.

That last thought made him frown, thinking about their new scientist 'friend'. He had a funny feeling about the guy. He was sure he'd seen him before, but something was wrong, something was nagging at him and he couldn't quite figure it out.

Janice tilted her head to the side and the bouncing of her hair brought him back to the present. He looked at her pouty face and smile. She was good for him; she would keep him entertained the whole night. It was just what he needed.

-----

Janice was propped on an elbow, looking down at Alec's sleeping form. Her eyes roamed up and down his gloriously naked body, reveling in its every exquisite detail. He was so handsome, all of him.

Her gaze lingered on his legs. She'd never been one to check out a guy's legs much, but damn if he didn't have the most perfectly muscular ones. Not to say anything about his delicious buns.

She looked back up at his face, touching the hair on his forehead with the tip of her fingers. He was a gorgeous devil. But that was not it.

She was an X5. She was familiar with perfect bodies. She'd grown up around them. Alec was different. He was a constant challenge. He never stayed the same. He was so intense, so passionate, so detached; so open and so private; so mature and so childish.

She was madly in love with him.

She wasn't sure if he knew or not. He was pretty intuitive, but she was trained at concealing her emotions too. She wasn't planning on telling him, either. He didn't want any complications in his life. She wouldn't give him any. She'd just seize any moment she could get with him.

Which didn't seem like it would last much longer. She sighed as his cell phone began to vibrate. She glanced at the display on the bedside table. 'MAX' it read. She resisted the urge to groan. That would definitely not do. If there was one thing she learned was that she should never, ever, try to get between Alec and Max. Alec did not have many friends. Max was one of them.

She hadn't been around at the time, but she'd heard about the one they called Biggs. He'd been Alec's friend. And there had been a redhead, too... Lane? Lynn? They'd both been killed. Alec was over it, he wasn't still grieving or anything. But he didn't let anyone get that close to him anymore. Only Max and Joshua had penetrated that barrier. Well… and the kids.

With a final hungry look, she nudged him on the shoulder.

"Alec. Alec, your phone is ringing." She whispered softly.

She watched his beautiful hazel eyes focus on her first, a lazy smile touch his lips. He extended his arm back to reach for the cell, all the while looking at her, making her skin burn. Then he glanced at the display, pushed a button and started talking; all thoughts of her forgotten.

She rolled to the side and then got off the bed.

She knew she was as well as dismissed.

---------

"So anything new?" Alec asked as he got to the house, his hair still wet from his shower. He'd showered and changed as soon as he got the call from Max. Janice had already left by the time he'd finished talking. One of the things he really liked about her, she knew when not to be on his hair. She understood him. She was just like him.

"Logan's been investigating, but so far, he's got nothing more on this guy's past than his Columbia records." She shook some computer printouts in her hands. "Born in 1989 in Wales, went to school there, graduated from high school in the top ten percent of his class. Got a scholarship to a local university where he majored in biology. Then applied and got a scholarship at Columbia. His parents died in a car accident when he was twelve. No other relatives. There's nothing on him after Columbia, which pans out with him being at Manticore." She recited the whole thing, sounding faintly bored.

"So, nothing new." Alec surmised.

"Not a thing." She nodded. "We are trying to look up other people he might have gone to school with, trying to find a Familiar connection. Problem is, there aren't that many records of his time in Wales."

Alec nodded. "Hey! Maybe we should make a little trip across the pond, you know? Just for investigative purposes." When Max shook her head at him, he shrugged. "Fine, you don't have to come, I can go on my own." He moved to the side to avoid her fist.

"Come on, Alec, get serious."

"Alright, alright." He sighed dramatically. "Where's Logan?"

"He went to see a friend of his with the list of people from Columbia."

"Okay." He dropped onto a nearby couch, resting his head on the back of it, closing his eyes. "So Logan's taking care of our mystery guy. Let's focus on what he said."

"About the Familiars still being around?" she asked.

Alec nodded his agreement. "The only way he'd know they are still around, would be for him to be in contact with them… or," he watched Max's eyes turn darker as she reached the same conclusion.

"...for him to still be a part of the cult." They finished in unison.

-----

It was a barely lit room, a basement of some sort. A flight of stairs that went up to a closed trap door adorned the far corner. Candles were spread across the walls every metre. A man in his early forties stood in the center of the room, wearing a brown robe; a group of twenty or so figures also dressed in robes were circling him, slowly moving around the room, chanting. A thick snake was curled at the man's feet, its hissing only heard when the chanting fell low.

The man started speaking in a guttural language. The others stopped chanting and hummed their agreement.

The man raised a knife and stabbed the snake at his feet. He twisted his hand and lifted the reptile, still writhing around the blade. The snake's blood flooded down the man's muscled arm as he turned around for everyone to see.

The robed figures bowed their heads as the man faced them, to show their reverence.

The dark haired man with hazel eyes lowered his painted face too. He took the opportunity to scrunch his nose. What was it with all these rituals of sacrifice? In all his life, he'd studied hundreds of cults and religions, and they never failed to involve some kind of bloody sacrifice. There had been a time when he would have enjoyed it. But now he took them as what they were. Plainly disgusting acts. Yet they evidently served their purpose in fulfilling some sort of need human nature had for them.

When the man in the middle of the room finished his slow spin, he lowered his arm and sat down on the floor, head bowed. The rest of them chanted their way up the stairs and disappeared into the confines of the big dark castle-like house.

The hazel-eyed man left last of all, glancing back at the man in the centre of the room, who looked up at him and nodded. He nodded back and continued up the stairs, smirking with amusement.

Five thousand years, give or take, and life never ceased to amuse him.

----------

"So, nothing?" Logan frowned, readjusting his glasses.

"Zero, zilch, nada," answered the Hispanic man looking up at him from behind a screen. "I got all the Columbia records, but not even a picture of him. You sure this guy isn't a government agent?"

"Right now, buddy, I am not sure of anything." Logan grimaced, "But I don't think so. He was at some point though, so the government may have made some of this stuff up…" His eyes sparkled, "Why didn't I think of this before? Let's look at this from another angle. Let's say he IS a government type, where would he have gone for a 'record'?"

Arturo smiled as he caught Logan's drift.

"Oh, yes, 'mano, I think we're on to somethin'" Arturo said, starting to dial a number.

Logan was already focused on the laptop before him.

---------

"Got it!" Logan announced happily as he entered the house.

"What's that?" Alec lazily tore his gaze from the TV screen while his fingers continued moving on the joystick, much to the kids' amusement. He did not even falter and passed to the next level of the game.

"Wow! That is so cool, uncle Alec!" Zack exclaimed.

"How did you do that?" Sean said simultaneously.

Alec just smirked and lowered his voice, so Logan wouldn't hear, "One day, I'm gonna tell you guys all about a mission I had at this video game company; you boys'll love it." He winked, "But, shh," he added, with a conspiratorial look, "It's top secret." The boys nodded eagerly and started putting the joysticks and game console away, making Logan look at them and then at Alec suspiciously. The X5 just smiled.

"Hey, baby, what have you got?" Max inquired from the doorway to the back yard, cleaning her hands with a ragged cloth. She'd been working with her new bike, which was a hobby of hers.

"I finally got a lead on our mystery guy." Logan sat before the coffee table and put the folder he was carrying on it. "We were trying to find more about his past, and couldn't come up with anything. Then it struck me, I remembered Alec's words about this guy being a player, put it all together, and realized that if he was working for Manticore, maybe his so-called past was a government invention, especially considering how 'clean' it was." He watched the nodding expressions of the two transgenics. "And if it wasn't…"

"Then he'd used one hell of a source to get a past good enough to fool Manticore." Max finished for him.

"Not too many of those." Alec continued, thoughtful. There weren't that many people who were that good a forging a 'past'. If the government had done it, Logan's friend would know how to get the info. If they hadn't, well, there were only a handful of specialists good enough to create a record that would fool the government as Max had pointed out. Yes, it was a good lead. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

------------


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Once again, I have my dear friend Infie to thank for taking the time to check this and for the expertise. You know you rock :)

A/N2: Thank you for reading ... and for your patience...

**The Modern Lazarus**

Max sat balancing her legs on the ledge of a window. She concentrated on her boots. They were a little old. Like five years, maybe six? But they were so perfect for her… Logan was always insisting she buy new clothes. But she liked her old things, they were comfortable. And comforting. Plus, they still fit her exactly as they had when she first bought them. Her body had not changed at all in the last years, she still looked pretty hot, if she said so herself.

She looked up at Alec, crouching on the wall that separated the house from the empty terrain besides. She smiled ruefully. No matter how long they'd been on the outside, or how much they interacted with the world, there was no denying the 'cat' in them.

Impatience was also a very feline treat. She was tired of waiting already. They could not have been here for more than two or three hours, but it felt like 32 to her.

"Bored already, Maxie?" Alec said from his post on the wall.

"Aren't you?"

"Well, I was thinking of something else, actually." He replied with a distracted smile.

Max rolled her eyes at him. "Was she accommodating?"

"Oh, she definitely was, thank you." He raised his left eyebrow, daring her to make another comment. She did not disappoint him.

"You are disgusting, Alec. Don't you know you are not supposed to 'share' about your girlfriends?"

He half smiled. "First, I didn't say anything except that she was accommodating, and only 'cause you asked. And second... who says I'm not?"

"Well, reticence is the gentlemanly thing." A voice said from the sidewalk. "That is, if you believe in all that chivalry tripe."

Max mentally cursed, they were supposed to sneak up on the guy, not the other way around.

"If you are worried that I took you by surprise, don't be," the man called Adam told her with a smile. "Your friend here has been pointing that gun of his at me since I turned the corner."

Alec didn't say anything, just kept his smile in place, wriggling his eyebrows at her. Max sighed. She should have known. The idiot had started talking to her on purpose, to distract her. She jumped off the ledge, effectively blocking Adam's way into his house.

"I think we need to talk, mister 'scientist'." She said, cocking her head to the side, a hand on her hip.

"Can we at least have a cup of tea? Maybe coffee for you? Or does it have to be here in the front lawn?"

"Well, if you don't have anything stronger, I guess coffee will have to do." Alec said by the doctor's ear, causing him to startle a little. The transgenic had still been on the wall a second before. Max smirked. It was good to shake the guy a bit; he was too confident, too sure of himself. Although, to be fair, he had not reacted as a normal person would at Alec's speed. He had merely looked surprised, even a little amused.

The idiot.

She stepped to the side to let him through and followed, expressly ignoring Alec's exaggerated display of letting her go first.

---------------------------

Logan sighed in exasperation. It was simply not possible. Between him and Arturo, they'd gone through all possibilities. He'd been so sure when they'd found the trail it would lead them directly to the "real" Dr. Oldman. The tracks had been faint – as they should be- but they'd found them. He and Arturo had concentrated on a government-based invention of the guy's past, and come up with zilch, before Logan came back to the apartment. It had taken Logan a couple of hours, with Alec's help, to finally get a good enough lead, to find a name. Only... it had not helped at all. There simply was no information on this alleged falsifier.

They hadn't had a really hard time tracking down the usual and not so usual forgers, since Logan had known most of them. But no amount of bribing or collecting on old favours had produced any results. After many hours and phone calls they finally had to give up and come to the conclusion that this person simply did not exist. Or if he did.. well, he'd only worked that one time, because the only other time they found similar tracks, it had been way before the pulse. Perhaps this guy was retired? Dead? But that made no sense. If he'd once been great and now was dead there would be more of a mention of him, the other people in the "trade" would have heard of him.

No. There was nothing. Good old doctor Oldman had found himself a non-existent forger that had worked only for him. Tricky.

Max and Alec had lost their patience and gone to see the doctor. Logan had stayed behind, still trying to look up more on this. He could simply not accept that a person would just vanish.

He sighed again, rubbed the bridge of his nose, put on his glasses again, and dove back into the endless amount of information available for those who knew how to get it.

---------------------------

"Who the hell are you?" Max exploded once the tea had been served and they were all sitting comfortably on the sofas.

Adam – because that was how he thought of himself right now- looked at her with amusement. She was all heat and passion. Very much unlike her partner, who was sitting opposite her and on the other side of Adam – a fact he had not missed- looking for all the world as if he didn't have a care in his life. She was the lioness, baring her teeth, protecting her cubs; he was the panther, lazily sliding around the jungle, but ready to pounce at any instant. He smiled at his mental comparison, trying to remember their genetic map. Of course, there'd been too many of them for him to pay too much attention back then to the exact animal they'd used on each transgenic. It wasn't the part he was really interested in. He had not been able to see the barcode on the male, anyway, and Max had introduced him as just 'Alec'.

"Well, that's a difficult one to answer." He finally answered her, "Who are any of us, really?" He had to smother a chuckle at the way she narrowed her eyes at him, somehow he hadn't thought she'd appreciate the flippant response. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched the boy throw an arm on the back of the seat and smile that deceptive smile of his.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Alec asked politely, "I am sure a man of your scientific background can come up with a good enough hypothesis."

This time Adam did not hide his grin. "True, my friend. Many of them, but as time will no doubt show you, we are different things to different people." He raised his hand when Alec rolled his eyes "I know that sounds like more philosophical bullshit to you, which it is, but it is also the truth. No, really, think about it. What are you? You are a young man. But you are also a transgenic. And that is just the physical part. You are a friend to the young lady here, you are no doubt someone's lover, you are someone's enemy, and someone's project come to life; an interesting specimen to others… The list is endless."

Alec just stared at him, without blinking, without deviating his eyes from him even the slightest bit, without any gesture or movement of his body. Adam sighed.

"All right, all right. You're obviously not up for philosophy. Fine, let's be boring." He made an exasperated gesture, "Yes. I was a Familiar." He looked at both of them in turn. "That was what you wanted to hear, wasn't it?"

"Well, wanted is not exactly the word we'd use." Alec responded, cold eyes still nailed to his face.

Adam had to smile again. The kid was okay. He nodded. "Fair enough. What you thought I should be saying?"

"What do you mean 'was'?" Max asked from her side of the room, looking at him intently. "And how do we know you're not anymore? It's not like your membership expires, or anything."

"Well… you don't actually." She glared at him, deservedly so, Adam supposed. Still, he did not go into further detail.

"Look, Mr I-am-a-fancy-Brit-and-I-like-to-play-mysterious-guy, you are trying my patience here."

"Which was never too sturdy to begin with, huh?" Adam guessed. "Look, I guess you think I owe you some sort of explanation, and normally I.." he interrupted himself and looked towards the door. He turned back to the room, "Would you guys.." He did not finish this sentence either. There were no 'guys'. It was only Max. He blinked. He shook his head, he'd have to get used to these kids' speed. "Would you excuse me?" He rephrased. She did not indicate in any way that she was surprised to see Alec gone. Either she'd heard what Alec had, or she was damn good at hiding her reactions. A little bit of both, he guessed.

She made a wave with her hand, indicating she was fine with him going to the door.

"I'll be back presently."

---------------------------

Max had heard the approaching steps. She was not surprised Alec had vanished. Whoever was coming to the door, if he'd heard anything, had no reason to believe Adam had been talking to more than one person. She was surprised Adam had known someone was coming to the door, though. How could he have heard what the transgenics had? Max did not remember any of the familiars having special hearing. But this guy had definitely known someone was coming. They would have to look into that. Max watched him go to the door, lean a hand on the coat hanging by it and only then look through the peephole. Probably had a gun on it. She had noticed an odd fold when he took it out to hang it. She'd glanced at Alec and he'd nodded, having seen it too.

She saw him relax, evidently recognizing the person on the other side. He moved to the side to open the door and let the visitor in.

Max's mind immediately took inventory, memorizing every detail. He was around 5'11'', fit, broad shouldered and moved with an easy grace that spoke of someone truly comfortable in his own body. His eyes were an interesting shade of green, deep soulful eyes that showed nothing beyond the surface. Max mentally shook her head. Was she ever going to meet a nice, normal guy whose eyes actually 'mirrored the soul' as the saying went? Wisps of dark blond hair fell over his eyes. It was cut unfashionably long, but it somehow suited him, emphasizing every movement of his head. The accent was British as he greeted Adam. She was sure Alec would be able to tell her the exact city it was from, but she hadn't taken all those courses. He had a little scar above his left eye; it only made his face more interesting.

"So what did you think of the performance?" The guy was asking Adam.

"Flawless, as usual." The doctor conceded with a regal nod of his head. "The audience was well pleased, I noticed."

"Were they not?", was the rhetorical answer. He seemed about to add something else, but his eyes found Max in the next room. They roamed up and down her body with an intense interest, though Max would not be able to ascertain whether it was directed at her shape or at her mere presence. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" He finally said, his eyes never leaving her as he moved closer.

Adam smiled. "Of course. This is an old acquaintance of mine, Ian. Ian, this lovely young woman is Max." He said with a flourish. Max did not miss the use of the word 'acquaintance', but Ian seemed unruffled by it.

"Nice to meet you." She said, extending her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine." He answered, taking her hand and kissing it.

She retrieved her hand, uncomfortable, but refused to move when he failed to retreat, staring at him hard. He smiled at her, conceding the point and backed down, "Do you mind?" He asked as he sat in the couch Alec had sat at before.

"Well, I guess I don't, now. The sofa is just as comfortable." Adam muttered. Max raised her startled gaze at him. The way he had said it, implied his seat had been taken away from him. It surprised her that he'd think to do that.

Ian simply dismissed his comment, his eyes back on hers. "So, where did you and this old chap here meet, my dear?"

"In the park." She said simply. The truth was always the easiest way out.

"The park? I didn't exactly see you as an outdoors kind of man." Ian's inquisitive eyes wandered back to Adam.

"Just because I don't spend every minute under the sun, as that skin of yours can attest you do, doesn't mean I'm a recluse." Adam replied, nonchalant. "Tell me, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?"

"Well, I thought I'd check on my dear friend, and also find out what you thought of our earlier meeting. But that can all wait, can't it? We wouldn't want to trouble the little lady here with our foolishness, would we?"

"We certainly would not." Adam nodded.

Max did not miss the weird undercurrents of the exchange, or the fact that there was something they did not want her to know. Good. Somewhere to start.

"Would you care for a cup of tea?" Adam was offering Ian, smoothly changing the subject. Max had to concentrate hard to keep a foolish smile in place. He would notice there were three cups, not two, and while there was nothing wrong with Alec being there, it would look suspicious that they had hidden his presence.

She should not have worried. Alec's cup was nowhere to be seen. He was probably sipping from it right now, having a laugh at her expense. The jerk.

"Max here was interested in my past as a scientist. I thought I had hidden it well, but she is a persistent young journalism student, and she found me."

Impressive, how he came with a totally plausible reason for her presence there out of the blue.

"I see," Ian nodded, and arched brow. "Well, I don't want to interrupt you two. By all means, carry on."

"Oh, no, please. It'll be interesting for my article to know more about Adam, the man. A friend's point of view might just give it a little color." She countered, a bright smile on her lips.

"Well, I am afraid there is not that much I will be able to help you with." Ian said, smiling apologetically. "He and I met long ago, but we live in different worlds. Our paths do cross from time to time, but I guess our chosen lifestyles are just a barrier."

"Oh?" Max encouraged him.

"Well, Adam is a scientist, as you know. I am afraid I have never believed in science that much."

"I heard you and Adam talk about a performance today? Are you an actor?" Max questioned, trying to get more information.

"Oh, you can say that." Ian smiled brightly.

"What would the readers be able to see you in?"

"Well, I am afraid I don't perform for the general public. I prefer a selected, private audience."

"You mean like private concerts? But for acting?" She frowned.

"Well, he does sing too, my dear." Adam interjected. "You should ask him to. He's got quite an interesting style."

"Really?" Max's gaze went from one man to the other.

"Indeed." Adam nodded. "You should invite Max to one of your performances, Ian."

Ian almost choked out the tea he was sipping. "Er, yes, of course. I'd have to consult with the people I perform for, but perhaps, some day…"

Max resisted the impulse to narrow her eyes at them and smiled politely. "Don't worry. You don't need to." She decided to change the subject. "So, you and Adam met... where? In college? Here in the States or was it back in Britain?"

"Oh, it was definitely on the other side of the ocean." Ian laughed. "But not in school. It was actually during one of my performances, a long time ago."

"I see." Max was getting frustrated. As much as he was answering her questions without complaining, it seemed like the more he answered, the less he told her. Everything was vague. "So, you are an actor, or performer for exclusive audiences and you've know Adam for a long time, met him on the Old Continent, but you are not really that close, yet you come to his house to visit him."

"Oh, well, dear old Ian cannot ever seem to stop trying to get me to see the error of my ways as a scientist and is always insisting I should join him in his endeavours." He smirked. "Truly someone who believes in his ideals, old Ian is."

"Yes, well... I am afraid I am making a fool out of myself here" Ian said, standing up, "and entertaining dear Adam to no end with it." He added, raising an eyebrow at the doctor, who raised both of his in turn, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Max got up as well, "Well, don't leave on my account."

"Oh, fear not, my dear. There will be plenty of time for me and Adam to talk. You just finish your interview here." He inclined his head and turned to the doctor. "I'll talk to you later.. Doc."

An instant later he was out the door.

"You can come out now, my friend." Adam said aloud.

"I think it's just the two of us." Answered Max with a smile. She had managed to catch a glance through the window of Ian turning to walk to the left.

She also caught a glimpse of Alec's blue jacket behind him. Not that it mattered. After all this time, they did not need to communicate out loud to know what the other was up to.

She turned intense chocolate eyes Adam's way. "Now, where were we?"

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End file.
